1. Home
  2. Electronics Repair
  3. Fluke 73III fluke repair

Fluke 73III fluke repair

A couple years ago I bought a Fluke 73III at a yard sale for $20. Such a deal, I thought. Everything seemed good for a short time, then I noticed when the leads were reversed a dc voltage would measure almost double, then the ohms reading was way off. I put the meter to the side and used a different one. Yesterday I found a schematic so I thought I'd look at it. Only found it because I was looking at purchasing a 87V on ebay. First thing, it didn't power up, I thought maybe I had removed the battery. I opened it, the battery is there, but I had trouble getting it to disconnect from the snaps, so I took the board loose to have more room. I then measured the voltage on the PCB, it was 5.5 volts, then I measured at the battery 9.1 volts. hmm. I ended up using diagonals cutters and prying the snap open to get the battery out. There was some corrosion. I installed a new battery connector and battery. All functions now work and are accurate, I have a calibration unit and used it to check the meter every way I could. I guess it was just a battery problem, but I never noticed a low battery indication. I'm happy.

Reply to
amdx
Loading thread data ...

Big Pat or a That Aboy!

Jamie

Reply to
M Philbrook

Most Fluke meters have a lifetime warranty. Keep that in mind before doing major surgery.

Peter Wieck Melrose Park, PA

Reply to
pfjw

Most other DVMs I've had would read accurately until the digits could no longer be read, LONG after the low-bat indication was on. At least one Fluke I had would start giving totally impossible readings as soon as the low-bat indicator showed. I guess there was less margin on the voltage reference. Kind of disappointing.

Jon

Reply to
Jon Elson

Not exactly: Each Fluke 20*, 70*, 80*, 170 and 180 series DMM will be free from defects in material and workmanship for its lifetime. As used herein, "lifetime" is defined as seven years after Fluke discontinues manufacturing the product, but the warranty period shall be at least ten years from date of purchase. *(Lifetime Warranty applies to products manufactured after October 1996).

The Fluke 73 iii shows as discontinued: No dates, so I can't guess(tm) as to it's warranty status.

Drivel: I found an old Fluke 8060A true RMS meter at a thrift shop. I fixed it (cleaned the LCD contacts) but now I can't find the three plastic screws that hold the case together. They're under the mess here somewhere. ARGH!

--
Jeff Liebermann     jeffl@cruzio.com 
150 Felker St #D    http://www.LearnByDestroying.com 
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com 
Skype: JeffLiebermann     AE6KS    831-336-2558
Reply to
Jeff Liebermann

** My rather old "Fluke 70 Series 2" displays the battery warning symbol at 6.4 volts - but still works fine to less than 5 volts.

The LCD display is good down to 2.5V but readings are are crazy.

..... Phil

Reply to
Phil Allison

With my Fluke 77 I've had that, erroneous slightly off values and no low batt symbol, but was due to low battery

Reply to
N_Cook

The fluke meters I have are like that. It's really obnoxious, especially on my latest 87V.

Reply to
Cydrome Leader

I have a 289, 189, 87 and the old process dmm which was/is a POS.

I only got the 289 because of the trending function, the rest of it, well, slow but it is dead on! Jamie

Reply to
M Philbrook

I have a Fluke 28 series II and it's an amazing meter, exactly like my 87-5 in function, but it wastes a lot of battery capacity.

AA cells get down to 1.4 volts and it's done. Not so bad really because you get those batteries out of there before they're likely to cause any corrosion.

You can "test" the batteries using the backlight and the continuity beeper at the same time. If the batteries are at all marginal, you'll get an early indication.

Mark Z.

Reply to
Mark Zacharias

ElectronDepot website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.